The next day was the weekend, but Shi Pengpeng, worried that Yan Jing might have other plans, still got up early and sent him a message.
SPP: [“I’m having breakfast at the restaurant. Call me when you’re ready to leave.”]
Soon after, Yan Jing arrived.
The hotel in this small town had limited amenities, offering only some rough buns and fried rice for breakfast.
Yan Jing glanced around and, with a look of disdain, made himself a cup of instant coffee.
Seeing this, Shi Pengpeng disapproved, “You’re drinking that on an empty stomach?”
“Yeah,” Yan Jing replied, glancing at the two large buns and an egg piled on her plate with a hint of admiration.
“Our pig eats delicately, not like you who can eat anything.”
“Got it,” Shi Pengpeng said, her mouth twitching slightly.
She handed over the only boiled egg on her plate and said,
“But even pigs need to watch their health. We still have to send the wild boar back later, so don’t get a stomach ache.”
Yan Jing: “….”
His face darkened, but after a moment, he reluctantly took the boiled egg and started eating.
As they were eating, a tall, thin young man walked into the restaurant.
The place was small, and Shi Pengpeng’s seat happened to face the door, so she immediately noticed him.
The man’s hair was disheveled, his clothes stained with dirt and grass, his face pale, and dark circles under his eyes he looked utterly disheveled.
Shi Pengpeng unconsciously furrowed her brow, sensing an ominous aura around him.
The man’s gaze swept around the restaurant and finally settled on a young woman with a delicate appearance sitting in the corner.
He quickly walked over and called out, “Lin Lele.”
She looked up and, seeing him, stood up in surprise. “An Ting, where did you go so early in the morning? You didn’t reply to my messages.”
But when she saw his condition, she was shocked. “What happened to you?”
An Ting didn’t answer her question, only said with a grim face, “Call that man out. Let’s settle this once and for all.”
“What are you talking about?” Lin Lele was baffled.
“What man?”
“Don’t play dumb,” An Ting sneered.
“Are you still trying to keep both feet in two boats?”
His voice was loud enough to draw the attention of the other guests in the restaurant.
Lin Lele’s face turned red with anger and embarrassment. “Are you crazy? What are you talking about?”
“Crazy?” An Ting laughed bitterly, pulling out a red piece of paper from his pocket.
“I’ve already seen your marriage certificate. The wedding date is clearly written on it. And your wedding dress-isn’t it hanging in the hotel closet?”
“What marriage certificate? What wedding dress?” Lin Lele was confused.
She took the red paper and, upon seeing it, was stunned. “Where did this come from? Who’s playing this kind of joke?”
“Why are you still pretending?” An Ting looked exhausted, no longer in the mood to argue.
“Your fiancé told me himself last night that you two are getting married today. Don’t worry, I won’t ruin it for you. But he had someone beat me up, and I can’t just leave without an explanation…”
By now, the people around them were whispering, their eyes filled with sympathy for An Ting.
“What nonsense!” Lin Lele was furious.
“Who’s spreading these lies? No, you have to take me to him…”
She was so agitated, waving her arms and stomping her feet, that she accidentally flung the red paper out of her hand.
The red paper fluttered in the air, tracing an arc before landing at Shi Pengpeng’s feet.
Shi Pengpeng bent down to pick it up and unfolded it, confirming it was indeed a marriage certificate.
This marriage certificate was very formal, containing not only the names and birthdates of the bride and groom but also the name of the officiant, the wedding date, and congratulatory messages.
The groom’s name was Zhao Jiayao, while the bride’s name was none other than Lin Lele.
“Sorry,” Lin Lele hurried over, “please give it back to me…”
Yan Jing glanced up, his brow furrowing slightly as he said,
“This… isn’t something meant for the living, is it?”
Just as An Ting also caught up, hearing this, he immediately thought Yan Jing was mocking them and glared at him, “What do you mean by that?”
“You’ve misunderstood,” Shi Pengpeng quickly intervened, her tone meaningful,
“My friend just has exceptionally sharp eyes and can see things that ordinary people can’t.”
As she spoke, she handed the long marriage certificate back and swiftly pulled out a tube of lipstick from her bag, dabbing a spot on both their foreheads in the blink of an eye.
“What are you doing?” An Ting reflexively pulled Lin Lele back a step.
Shi Pengpeng waved her hand, signaling them to look at the marriage certificate again, “Take a closer look.”
An Ting and Lin Lele, though puzzled, instinctively looked down and were immediately startled.
The once red and gold, festive-looking marriage certificate had somehow transformed into a white background with black characters.
Upon closer inspection, the content was roughly the same as before, with the groom still listed as Zhao Jiayao, but the bride’s name had changed to an unfamiliar one-Yuan Shuang.
An Ting and Lin Lele exchanged a glance, both utterly confused.
Lin Lele stammered, “Wh-what’s going on here?”
An Ting, even more suspicious, turned to Shi Pengpeng, “What did you do?”
“What’s with that attitude?” Yan Jing set down his coffee cup, clearly annoyed,
“She’s a trained mage from a professional school. You’re lucky to have run into her. Believe it or not.”
An Ting: “….”
He wanted to press further, but the other party seemed too arrogant, momentarily sapping his courage.
This young master’s tongue is as sharp as ever!
Shi Pengpeng broke into a cold sweat, quickly clearing her throat and explaining in a low voice,
“You two, this marriage certificate isn’t meant for the living. Have you encountered anything strange recently?”
An Ting and Lin Lele had already felt something was off, and with her prompting, they finally realized what might be happening.
Lin Lele looked alarmed, “Could it be… could it be…”
“Shh,” Shi Pengpeng glanced around, “This isn’t the best place to talk. Let’s move somewhere else.”
The two, already overwhelmed with understanding, nodded in agreement without hesitation.
They then led Shi Pengpeng and Yan Jing to their room.
As soon as they entered, they were eager to ask questions.
Shi Pengpeng gestured for them to calm down and asked,
“First, tell me, where did this marriage certificate come from?”
“I don’t know,” Lin Lele looked confusedly at An Ting.
An Ting said, “I found it in her suitcase.”
It turned out they were not locals but white-collar workers from the neighboring provincial capital.
They had been dating for over two years, their relationship always strong, and they often traveled together during holidays.
Until two days ago, Lin Lele suddenly took annual leave, saying she wanted to go to Zhupo County.
An Ting couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Zhupo County wasn’t a well-known place; they had never even heard of it before.
What could Lin Lele possibly be doing there, taking leave out of the blue?
When he asked her, she stammered and couldn’t give a clear answer.
An Ting grew even more suspicious, but he didn’t stop her.
As usual, he personally drove her to the high-speed rail station.
However, when he was handling her luggage, he noticed a strikingly out-of-place red paper tucked inside.
He casually pulled it out and was instantly struck as if by lightning.
That red paper was none other than Lin Lele and Zhao Jiayao’s marriage certificate.
An Ting wanted to confront Lin Lele on the spot but felt unwilling.
After much deliberation, he decided to buy a high-speed rail ticket and follow her, wanting to meet the man named Zhao Jiayao on the marriage certificate himself.
Upon arriving in Zhupo County, An Ting contacted Lin Lele.
He expected her to be shocked, but she acted as if everything was normal, thinking he had come specifically to accompany her.
She was even delighted and suggested they share a room.
An Ting was completely baffled, thinking there might be some misunderstanding.
Feeling somewhat guilty, he wanted to come clean with her.
However, he was too flustered to find the right words and decided to organize his belongings first.
When he opened the wardrobe in the room, he was startled to find a set of red wedding attire hanging inside.
Hearing this, Lin Lele couldn’t hold back and interrupted, “You just mentioned wedding attire. Where is it? I don’t know anything about it.”
An Ting walked over to the wardrobe opposite the bed and opened the door: “Isn’t it right here?”
The others looked up and saw a traditional Chinese red wedding dress hanging in the otherwise empty wardrobe.
The dress was exquisitely crafted, with a wide skirt adorned with intricate auspicious cloud patterns and a golden phoenix soaring with its wings spread.
Yet, An Ting and Lin Lele couldn’t help but shiver.
Because the wedding attire was unmistakably made of paper.
The room’s window was open, and a cold breeze blew in, rustling the paper-made bridal gown with a “rustling” sound.
“What… what’s going on?” An Ting stammered.
“What I saw yesterday was a normal wedding dress, not like this.”
“It’s an illusion,” Shi Pengpeng explained.
“That marriage certificate and this wedding attire are both from the underworld. But since they are meant for Miss Lin, a ‘living person,’ a spell was cast on them to deceive you.”
It wasn’t until Shi Pengpeng used cinnabar to open their spiritual eyes and dispel the illusion that they saw the true nature of these ghostly items.
“You mean… I’ve encountered a ghost?” Lin Lele and An Ting looked at each other, both breaking out in a cold sweat.
“I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that,” Shi Pengpeng mused, but he couldn’t conclude yet and waved his hand, signaling them to continue their story.
Gao Anting swallowed hard and said that after discovering the wedding attire, he was so angry that he calmed down instead, deciding to wait and see.
That night, he pretended to fall asleep early.
He waited until midnight when there was finally movement beside him.
Lin Lele quietly got up and left the room without even changing her clothes.
“She left the house extremely quietly, almost as if she were floating,” An Ting recalled.
If he hadn’t been awake, he wouldn’t have noticed her departure at all.
At the time, he thought Lin Lele was just trying not to wake him.
But now, looking back, her movements were anything but normal.
However, consumed by anger, An Ting didn’t dwell on it.
He quietly followed Lin Lele all the way to a bamboo grove on the outskirts of the county, where he witnessed her holding hands with a well-dressed man on a date.
A surge of rage rushed to An Ting’s head, and he charged forward to confront them.
But the two didn’t even bother to reason with him.
Lin Lele walked away on the spot, while the man stopped An Ting and mocked him, saying that he and Lin Lele were set to officially marry the next day.
He warned An Ting to stop bothering her.
Furious, An Ting wanted to fight the man, but with a single gesture from him, a large group of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
They surrounded An Ting and beat him until he passed out.
Thus, An Ting lay unconscious in the wilderness all night, only waking up at dawn.
Fortunately, although there were many attackers, their strength wasn’t overwhelming, so he wasn’t severely injured.
But by then, his heart had turned cold.
Thinking about how heartless Lin Lele had been the previous night, he felt there was nothing left to say.
However, simply being beaten by that man and slinking away felt too humiliating.
So he returned, wanting to confront Lin Lele and have her call out that man to settle the score.
This led to the scene that had just unfolded.
“But I have no idea about any of the things you mentioned last night,” Lin Lele said, on the verge of tears.
It was only then that she suddenly realized she had been in a daze for the past few days.
Even her sudden decision to take leave and come to Zhupo County was inexplicable-she just felt an inexplicable urge to make the trip.
Thinking back carefully, it seemed as if an indescribable force had been clouding her mind.
An Ting also noticed the many inconsistencies in the situation and felt deeply remorseful.
He quickly took her hand and said, “I believe you.”
The two of them turned to Shi Pengpeng.
Lin Lele asked anxiously, “Master, what on earth is going on?”
Shi Pengpeng was still holding the white marriage certificate in her hand.
After examining it several times, she finally spoke slowly, “I think Miss Lin has been subjected to a ‘Cold marriage.’ “
A Cold marriage, also known as a ghost marriage, is a practice of finding a spouse for a deceased person.
In the past, people were deeply superstitious about feng shui in graveyards.
They believed that the presence of a “lonely grave” could affect the prosperity of a family’s descendants.
Therefore, if an unmarried family member passed away, they would seek a “ghost matchmaker” to arrange a marriage for the deceased, finding a suitable “partner” and then conducting a joint burial.
This custom is rare nowadays, and when it does occur, it is usually done in secret.
However, as a long-standing superstition, most people have heard of it.
Lin Lele was puzzled, “But shouldn’t a Cold marriage involve pairing with a deceased person?”
“Yes, that’s usually the case,” Shi Pengpeng nodded, also somewhat confused.
A white marriage certificate and red wedding attire are standard for a Cold marriage, but the participants are typically deceased unmarried individuals.
Lin Lele, a living person, how could she be paired in a Cold marriage?
Moreover, Shi Pengpeng pointed to the name on the marriage certificate and asked,
“Is Yuan Shuang a name you’ve used before?”
Lin Lele shook her head, “No, I’ve never changed my name.”
Shi Pengpeng: “That makes it even stranger.”
The marriage certificate used a trick to deceive Lin Lele.
The actual chosen bride should have been someone named “Yuan Shuang.”
But this marriage certificate indeed belongs to Lin Lele.
Moreover, Lin Lele has clearly already been affected by this ghost marriage.
That’s why last night, in an unconscious state, she went on a “date” with her so-called “fiancé.”
To be more precise, it was more like being “inspected” by the “fiancé.”
Not only that, according to the time on the marriage certificate and the “fiancé’s” explanation to An Ting, the other party is supposed to officially “marry” Lin Lele tonight.
“No,” Lin Lele’s face turned pale, “I don’t want to marry a ghost!”
She’s not a fool.
She knows this ghost marriage isn’t just a formality.
Once the ceremony is completed, it won’t just be a matter of losing consciousness like last night.
She would truly die, lose her soul, and live with her ghost husband.
“Don’t worry,” Shi Pengpeng said calmly, “I’m here.”
An Ting and his girlfriend clung to each other, nervously asking, “Master, what can you do?”
“Hmm” Shi Pengpeng fell into deep thought.
If it were a normal ghost marriage, performing a ritual would suffice to break it.
But Lin Lele’s situation is clearly more complicated.
After a moment, she wrinkled her nose, clapped her hands, and said, “Then let me be the bride instead.”
Before An Ting and Lin Lele could react, Yan Jing blurted out, “No way.”
Shi Pengpeng was puzzled: “Why?”
Yan Jing realized he had overreacted.
After a moment of silence, he muttered awkwardly, “It’s too dangerous.”
Perhaps feeling that this reason was too flimsy, he coughed lightly and added, not very confidently,
“I mean, it’s too dangerous for the ghost groom.”
Shi Pengpeng: “…”
An Ting and Lin Lele: “…”